Hi Trevor ,
With all due respect I would like to share a different view. First let me
say that if the car is an unmolested
original example that has never been in a significant shunt , has little or
no rust and is basically a time capsule.
Then I completely agree with you. It would be a crime to modify a car like
this. On the other end of the spectrum
is my car. It is missing it's original engine and transmission and
suspension and interior. Three out of four wings had
been heavily dented and filled with massive amounts of Bondo. On the plus
side the car's suspension mounting points
are true, and the car has almost no rust. I have replaced the three wings,
both "A" posts , one "B" post , one sill , and
a bunch of other mangled flat sheet metal parts. These repairs have been
carried out to the highest standards that I can
perform. I have used some lead and a very small amount of plastic on this
car. I have been collecting all of the correct
missing parts that give these cars so much of their charm. Like original
seats , uncut dash , original gauges , steering
wheel, all of the original Bakelite switches and controls. I've even
acquired a radiator with perfect sheet metal that needs
re-coring. (Didn't I get that from you ?) It could have ended up in the
scrap heap. I also bought a copy of the originality
standards , so that when I put the whole thing together it will look correct
(mostly). But no matter what I do... even if I find
rubber floor mats and ribbed door liners, it wont be an original car. In the
40 some odd years since these cars were first
produced a lot of development has gone in to them. Some of it has been very
successful. Are there any list members out there with
Datsun 5 speeds or 1275's in their Bugeyes? Or alternators or disk brakes or
Webers ???...Do you see what I mean ? So I am NOT
sorry for putting all of the above and Polly bushings and a front sway bar
and a rear panhard rod and leather interior and Wilton
carpet into my Sprite. My Sprite will never be in the same class as "Old
Grey" But it will have class and be a kick in the Ass.
My .02 cents
Mark Hanna
AN5
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Trevor Boicey [SMTP:tboicey@brit.ca]
> Sent: Monday, October 23, 2000 8:30 PM
> To: ryan marro
> Cc: Daniel1312@aol.com; robert@woozy.com; toyman@digitex.net;
> spridgets@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: Engine and Transmission
>
> ryan marro wrote:
> > Never having known
> > any of the Healeys personnally, I can't speak with authority, but I
> doubt
> > that they would still be building their cars with a 948cc engine these
> days.
>
> I think that's the fundamental "discontuity" in the logic.
>
> The Healey is not a car of today. It's a car of yesteryear,
> and that's what's wonderful about it, and they "ain't making
> any more".
>
> To try to put a modern engine into it because "Donald would
> do it today" would imply that you are trying to modernize
> the car. If you want a new car, you are likely better off to
> just buy one, because after the engine and tranny swap
> the braking and suspension is going to be horribly out
> of place.
>
> 90% of these projects die. Strangely, a lot of them are
> completed until they are driveable and even usable, but that's
> about the time reality strikes and the illusion of the
> dream is shattered by the reality.
>
> Eventually, it all ends up in a stack of boxes as another
> unfinished project.
>
> --
> Trevor Boicey, P. Eng.
> Ottawa, Canada, tboicey@brit.ca
> ICQ #17432933 http://www.brit.ca/~tboicey/
> "Wanna see me comb my hair really fast?" - Johnny Bravo
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